


Seducing Charles

by Gerec



Series: XMA AU [1]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Apocalypse, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mind Manipulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 07:25:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5699965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerec/pseuds/Gerec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>En Sabah Nur knows there's more than one way to recruit a powerful telepath like Charles Xavier. This one is by far the most effective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seducing Charles

Charles has had this dream many times before.

And it’s always the same, the two of them on opposite sides of the chess board, the divide growing ever wider as they refuse to hear each other – to _understand_ each other - focused as they are on making their own arguments and being right.

With the distance of memory comes a sobering clarity that Charles has learned to accept, where his mind is occupied not by Shaw or their mission to Cuba, but by the clench of Erik’s jaw and the way his fingers tighten around the half full martini glass. The way his eyes sharpen with every moment that passes, his voice taking on an edge of disappointment and reproach.

It’s not Erik leaving him on the beach, or when he puts on Shaw’s helmet for the first time; it’s _here_ , now, in the warm intimacy of their shared space that Charles loses Erik for the first and only time.

‘Only’, because he’s never gotten him back.

Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that he never truly had Erik at all, because with the passage of time comes wisdom and hindsight, and Charles no longer has the seething rage or the mind-numbing drugs to blind him to the truth.

What they shared - what they were to one another - was never meant to last, and Erik at least had the wherewithal to know it from the very beginning.

“Always so quick to make assumptions about me, Charles,” Erik says with a laconic grin, leaning back into his chair and taking a languid sip of his drink. “You should know better than that.”

Charles chuckles wryly, and moves his rook on the chess board. “I do now, my friend.”

Erik leans forward, his grin shifting to something softer, almost fond. “I was never very good at feeling anything but anger, Charles. Pain, rage, hurt, disappointment – those were my constant companions until I met you.”

“I remember,” Charles answers, and closes his eyes.

When he opens them again, Erik has moved from his chair to crouch in front of him, his hands cupping Charles’ face.

“You made me remember, that there was more to me than that, Charles. That I was capable of joy, and love, and hope. And oh how I loved you, Charles, so much. I still do, and I’ve never stopped wanting you by my side, not for a single day since…”

Charles sighs, as a calloused thumb caresses him gently, wiping the tears from his cheek. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear you say this—”

“I know, Charles. I know.”

“—which is how I know you’re not real, my darling. This is a dream, and you’re not really here, and we can never go back.”

“We can, Charles,” Erik says, his voice taking on an echo, deep and infinite. “We can be together again, Charles. We want the same thing.”

“No,” he replies, as the edges around Erik start to blur and quiver. “No, we do not.”

“Charles,” the voice says, the sound reverberating all around them now, as Erik’s hands move to grip his arms like an iron vise. “I don’t want to hurt you, Charles. Don’t make me hurt you.”

“NO,” he screams, “Erik, no!” as the room starts to spin and the floor falls from beneath his feet and Charles is hurtling faster and faster into an abyss of nothingness, screaming Erik’s name—

* * *

Erik is there, holding Charles when he wakes from his dream, bolting upright in his bed.

“Bad dream?” Erik asks, smoothing his matted curls from his forehead as Charles clings to him, chest heaving and gasping for breath.

“What…where am I? What are you doing here?”

“You’re home, and I live here,” Erik answers, tone mildly exasperated. “How long will it take for you to accept that I’m here and that I’m never leaving you again?”

He knows this isn’t real; knows this must be another dream, but Charles is suddenly too exhausted to fight with the imposter in his bed, so warm and whole and _here,_ pressed up against him.

“Let me in,” Erik whispers into his skin, trailing fingertips along his cheek before taking his mouth in a harsh and hungry kiss. Charles gasps when Erik deepens the connection, the scent and taste of his ex-lover just as vibrant and overwhelming after all these years. “Let go, Charles. I’m here.”

 _Yes_ , Charles thinks, ignoring the warning niggling in the back of his mind; he can _have_ this, dream or apparition - just this once and no one else has to know. Where there’s no one but Charles himself to judge him for his weaknesses; where he can allow himself to _feel_ and _want_ and _need_ again for just a little while.

“Yes,” he says, and the thing wearing Erik’s face smiles at him, exactly as Charles remembers. “I’m yours.”


End file.
